"I've always wanted to sail across the Pacific in my own boat," he said.

The 10,000-mile passage began in October 2007 when he left the U.S. Virgin Islands and concluded in September when he arrived at the island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean. Vanuatu is west of the Fiji Islands and northeast of Australia.

Savage, 23, graduated from Richard Montgomery High School in 2004 with a passion for the boating life and a strong wanderlust he says he inherited from his father, Ron, who was in the Peace Corps.

Though Savage only began sailing as a young adult, taking to the high seas is a passion that runs in his family.

"My dad's dream was to build a sailboat and sail around the Pacific Ocean," Ron Savage said. "Unfortunately, he was killed in Vietnam in 1968, many years before my son, Francisco, was born, so in some amazing way, my son is really living my father's dream as well as his own."

The year Savage graduated, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from South Africa to Argentina with three friends — a journey of about 5,000 miles.

He then moved to Florida and attended a technical school in Daytona Beach where he learned how to fix boat engines. He began working in the harbors of Florida on private yachts to earn money.

"I got hired a lot because I can sail and work on deck," he said.

The work is generally dull and includes mostly maintenance and cleaning, but it pays well, he said.

He soon saved up $15,000 and bought Infini — which in French means "infinity" — from a friend who told him it had been sitting unused for 10 years.

"That's cheap as far as sailing yachts go," he said.

The cost of a sailboat can range from $5,000 to $200,000, depending on its size and condition, he said.

Once he acquired Infini, Savage spent 10 straight days making fixes and improvements to ensure it was seaworthy. Finally, after stocking up on food and supplies, he trimmed the sails and floated out of the harbor to begin his 11-month voyage.

But 10 years is a long time for a boat to sit unused and Savage admits he didn't have time to fix everything before setting sail.

"My philosophy is, things that break along the way, fix along the way," he said.

For instance, he didn't fire up the motor for the first time until almost two weeks into the journey, he said. It was as he approached a dangerous reef passage near Panama that he thought he would play it safe and use the motor to get through. But when he tried to turn on the engine, it blew up.

"Of course, there was no wind for me to try and sail out, either," he said.

The current pushed him toward the reef, then a small puff of wind allowed him to sail slowly away, then the wind died again and he drifted back toward the reef.

Finally, he said, after hours of nearly being dashed on the reef then narrowly escaping, he was able to clear the passage and dock at a nearby harbor.

"I was a little worried there, sure," he said.

His motor had to be replaced as he floated through the Panama Canal.

Knowing their son is thousands of miles away sailing through often dangerous waters gives Savage's parents, who live in Rockville, an understandable measure of concern.

"As a parent I have mixed feelings," Ron Savage said. "On the one hand, I really admire my son's courage and his enthusiasm for living life to its fullest and exploring new horizons. However, I do worry about him, and sometimes wish he had gotten a normal' job and settled down somewhere nearby."

Francisco Savage's periodic stops on shore as he sailed west were almost always enjoyable, he said.

"People were excited to see a young guy sailing around," Savage said. "Most of the time they see fat old yachters. But everyone was nice to me. They said, Hey, come on over for dinner and some drinks.'"

Further along his route he passed American Samoa and the Galapagos Islands, stopping to enjoy the tropical islands.

On some days there was no wind and on other days there was bad weather, but each day was spent doing what he loves, he said. He finally arrived in Vanuatu, tired but satisfied with his journey.

At his parents home are a few souvenirs of his travels, like a tam tam, or carved post, that marks the burial site of a chief, and a sizable shell collection.

But Savage is a restless traveler; he's already planning his next trip. This one might take him to the Indian Ocean to explore the waterways around the India subcontinent.

"It's not that I get bored real easily, but I prefer to keep moving," he said.